Rosemary Steen - Director, RTB
Rosemary Steen - Director, RTB

As 2024 draws to a close, it is timely to reflect on the progress we have achieved and the challenges we have addressed at the Residential Tenancies Board this year.

It was a particularly significant year as we marked our 20th anniversary. In reaching this important milestone, we looked back on how both the rental sector and our remit have grown in the last two decades.

As the regulator of Ireland’s rental sector, we play a vital role in Irish society. When I joined the RTB this September, I shared my key priorities as Director to ensure that we deliver a rental sector that works for the people of Ireland. These were to:

In my first 100 days in this role, I have been impressed with the level of commitment of public servants in the RTB to work with me to address these. Thanks to their efforts, we are making significant progress on all three priorities.

Reducing dispute resolution timelines

Our recent success in reducing dispute resolution timelines is an excellent example of how the RTB can address challenges facing the sector when sufficiently resourced.

Between 2021 and 2023, dispute resolution applications to the RTB grew by 75%. This was an unprecedented increase which led to longer timelines for dispute resolution. This issue was top of my list of priorities when I joined the RTB in September.

With support from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, we hired eight new staff to implement a Disputes Improvement Programme in 2024. This included running early intervention to prevent disputes progressing to a formal hearing. 

Thanks to these steps, the RTB has reduced dispute resolution timelines as follows:

In 2025, we plan to build on this progress by introducing a new cutting-edge digital platform to manage disputes. Using their mobile, tablet or laptop, customers will be able to apply for dispute resolution, submit evidence and track case progress next year. 

Ensuring compliance with rental law – RPZ campaign

In October, we launched a Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) compliance campaign. It targeted landlords associated with 16,000 tenancies where we observed a rent increase above RPZ limits in the ESRI’s Individual Property Level Analysis study.

We wrote to this group of landlords to advise that we have identified a rent increase of concern for their tenancies. Landlords were asked to check and correct their rent, and to return any overpaid rent to tenants if necessary.

We also created new educational resources to support landlords. These included a new webinar on calculating rent correctly in an RPZ. This was shared by email with all landlords associated with the 16,000 tenancies of concern. We also ran national and local radio ads to remind landlords of their obligations.

We have seen high levels of engagement with the campaign. We received over 4,000 visits to a dedicated campaign landing page. Visits to the RPZ calculator on our website were also up 23% during the campaign compared to 2023. We received 1,684 calls on rent setting during the campaign, 824 emails and letters and 429 webchats.

The campaign has shown us there is a lack of understanding of RPZ rules in more recently designated RPZs. We plan to target our information campaigns to these areas in 2025.

Ensuring compliance with rental law – registration campaign

In October, we also launched a targeted registration compliance campaign. Through HAP and other Government data we can identify potentially unregistered landlords. We have now issued 1,100 letters to this group. 

We have also launched a public information campaign targeting seven counties where CSO research identified higher levels of potentially unregistered tenancies. These were Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan, Galway, Clare, Louth and Tipperary. We are now working with those county councils to run public information campaigns. The campaigns began with local radio and newspaper ads in December and will continue to March 2025.

Increased information, education and engagement

We are the sole custodian of Ireland's national register of tenancies. This leaves us uniquely positioned to deliver data and insights on the rental sector.

This August, we launched our new Profile of the Register data series. Using annual registration data, the series is the most authoritative source on the size and profile of Ireland’s rental sector. It has shown positive trends in registered tenancies and landlords. Registered private tenancies rose by 8.4% annually to Q3 2024. Approved Housing Body tenancies have also grown by 15.6% annually to Q3 2024. The number of private landlords has increased by 5.7% annually to Q3 2024.

This data now provides a valuable baseline against which we can track future growth and trends in the rental market. It is complemented by other studies like the RTB/ESRI Rent Index and Individual Property Level Analysis study which also draw on register data.

In 2024, we continued to engage positively with policy makers, the media and stakeholders across the housing sector to disseminate our research findings to inform policy. In December, we were joined by 120 stakeholders for a special event to mark our 20th anniversary where we shared the latest data on the rental sector.

Thank you

I would like to thank our staff, Chair, members of the RTB Board and our stakeholders for their support and engagement to achieve the outcomes we have shared from 2024.

A healthy rental sector is a vital part of a well-functioning housing market. As we enter 2025, the RTB will continue to be at the centre of delivering a fair rental sector for Irish society.

We wish our stakeholders a peaceful and relaxing Christmas, and we look forward to continuing to engage with them in the New Year.

Rosemary Steen - Director, RTB